PayPal fined $27.3 million by Polish watchdog for ambiguous clauses

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s antitrust and consumer protection watchdog imposed a fine of 106.6 million zlotys ($27.3 million) on PayPal (NASDAQ:) Europe for failing to spell out to consumers in its contractual clauses activities for which they may be fined, UOKiK said on Monday.

UOKiK said that prohibited activities which could incur penalties were described in an unclear way and users may not understand exactly what was not allowed and what action the company could take in such cases.

“PayPal clauses are general, ambiguous and incomprehensible. When reading these provisions, a consumer cannot predict which of their actions may be considered prohibited, or what sanctions may be imposed on them by the entrepreneur,” the head of UOKiK, Tomasz Chrostny, said in a statement.

“Therefore, PayPal has an unlimited possibility to decide at will whether the user has committed a prohibited act and what penalty they will face for it, which may be, for example, blocking money on the account.”

PayPal was not immediately available for comment.

The decision is not final and PayPal has the possibility to appeal to a court, UOKiK said.

($1 = 3.9055 zlotys)